I found this poem in The Singing Life: The Story of a Family in the Shadow of Cancer by Elizabeth Bryan (Vermillion, 2008).
I Sing the Life
I sing the life that is born in all of us,
Ours to use the best way we can.
I sing the death that is yet in store for us
Linking back to the place we began.
The paths we travel are often in shadow
But words are lanterns to guide our feet
And the joy of friendship and peace of solitude
Help the myth and the meaning to meet.
We tread the labyrinth of our being
To reach the shore on the other side.
We feel the wear and the grime of our journeying
Each alone, with the thread for our guide.
Jane Duncan
